Garment press



Aug. 12, 1941. w. STROBRIDGE- GARMENT PRES S Filed April 1, 1940, 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ICE in VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ" Zhwentor attorneys Aug. 12, 1941. w. STROBRIDGE GARMENT PRESS Filed April 1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E Zhwentor VIM? 2 Patented Aug. 12, 1941 UNITED STATES v PATENT OFFICE f a'zsassi r GARMENT rimss William Strobridge, Syracuse, N. Y., assig'no r to United States Hoffman Machinery Corporation, New York, Y.,a corporation of Delaware Application April 1, 1940, Serial No. 327,290

'2 Claims.

This invention relates to garment presses, and

particularly to garment presses operated type.

The usual press of this character comprises a support on which the buck is mounted and a lever pivoted to the support and carrying the press head which cooperates with the bucks A duplex toggle mechanism is usedv comprising a so-called secondary toggle which reacts. between the support and the press lever, and a of the toggleprimary togglemade up of a manually operated lever fulcrumed on the supportand a link which connects this lever with one component of 'the secondary toggle. Neither toggle. straightensv completely, but they approach so closely to, a straightened condition that the multiplication-of force from the pedal to the press headais Very great. This implies that fora largepedal movement in the final motion of the press, there is a very small motion of the press head Hence, it is possible to use an ordinarybumper or cushion to limit the closingmotion of the press linkage and still secure sound operation. However, near the open position of the press, the force ratio between the pedal and the press lever is very greatly diminished, with the result that the linkage has an accelerated motion as the press opens. The arrest of the linkage at th limit of opening motion has always beena problem, both from the standpoint of shock andnoise. The problem has been to produce a. buiferwhich could be constructed inexpensively andv which would have sufiicient range of motion duringthe buffing action and would-exert sufficient buffing force to secure a silent and comparatively shockfree arrest of the opening movement of the link.- age. It may be remarkedthat the press .lever, with its counterweight, is quite heavy. and that. accumulated momentum whichmust beabsorbed by the buffer is considerable. 1 l

The present invention provides a butler which reacts between-the two links-of the secondary toggle, and has remarkably effective characteristics in buihng the opening movement of the press. The structure is simple and operates-silently and efiectively. The re'asonfor this is that during the open'ingmovement of the press, the buffer reacting between the two link elements of the secondary toggle not only checks the motlo'n of these toggle links but also imparts a' check resistance directly to the presslever which carries the press head and the counterweight.

In order to illustrate the best embodiment known to me, the invention will now be described as embodied in'a commercialpress of known form.

In the accompanying drawings:

ure 1 is a view chiefly in side elevation of.

the press, certain parts of ,the Support being broken away to disclose the linkage. The press is shown closed and latched. p

Figure '2 is a similar view showing the open position of thepress. 1

Figure 3 is an axial section on. an enlarged scale of the bufling components shown in Figures 1and2.

The main frame or support of the, press is generally indicated by the reference numeral 1 I. This has an upstanding member [2 on which the so-called .buck or lower press element I3 is mounted. The base II has at its rear an upward extension M on which.v the press lever I5 is pivoted at IS. The presslever carries at its forwardenda press head I! arranged to coact with the buck l3 and is provided at its rear end with a counterweight |8., ,A coiled tension spring I9 reacts between the base .I l andthe lever [B in such a way as to urge the press open, thatis, to lift the head I! away from the buck I3;

Extending forward from the forward end of the lever lli is a handle 2] .which'the operator may grasp to draw the head ll downward against the buck l3. However, when pressure is to be developed, the press may be closed and subjected to pressure by depressing the main foot pedal 22 which operates through a-to'ggle linkage, now to be described. I V t 1 The toggle is of the duplex type and comprises asecondary toggle made up of a link 23 and a link 24 hinged together at 2 5 The lowerlink 24 is pivoted to'the frame I l at 26' and theupper end is pivoted at 21 to the horizontal arm of a bellcrank28 which is pivoted at 29 to the lever I5. 'The purpose of using the bell crank is to adjust the position of the pivot 21 relatively to the lever I5 and thus "adjustthe pressure developed between the head l1 and the buck l3 by the closing of the'press; To efiect this adjustment, a tension rod-3| is threaded into clevis 32 Depression of the pedal 22 draws the linkage to the position shown in Figure 1 in which the c osing motion of the linkage is arrested by a resilient bumper 44 which is threaded in a boss 45 carried by the link 4|. Thepurpose of the threaded mounting is to permit adjustment of the bumper 44, said adjustment (when made) being fixed by the lock nut 46. The bumper 44 engages the upper end of toggle link 24 approximately opposite the pivot of the hinge 25. It will be observed that the centers of the hinge Connections 26, 25, 21 do not quite reach alignment, and the same is true of 38, 42 and 43, but these parts are moved so nearly into alignment that at the time the bumper. 44 engages the upper end of the link 24, the parts are moving. quite slowly.

The press is held in its closed position of Figure 1 by a latch which is pivoted at 41 on the link 24 and has a latch nose 48 which enters beneath a roller keeper 49 on the link 4|. The latch is urged in engaging direction by a coil compression spring 5| and carries a tail 52 by which it may be disengaged in closed position of the press. To accelerate opening movement of the links 23, 24, a tension spring 53 is. connected to react between a portion of the base I and, the link 24. The latch 48 may be disengaged, either by a foot pedal or by a finger-tiprelease mechanism mounted adjacent the handle 2|, the. latter being used alsoduring the "so-called Fpatting operation in which the head is patted against the buck without permitting the press to lock.

The latch releasing mechanism comprises a trigger 54 pivoted at 55 on a portion of the frame The trigger 54 is so located that in the closed position of the press (Figure 1) .it overlies the tail 52 and will depress that tail, releasing the latch, if the trigger 54 is rocked in a clock-wise direction.

To rock the trigger 54, there is provided an arm 56 which is rigidly connected to the trigger 54 and which is connected by a link 51 with a rearward arm 58 of a latch foot l-ever 59. This is fulcrumed at 6| in the frame II. It is urged in a clock-wise direction by a coil compression spring 62, the limit of clock-wise motion being adjustably determined by a screw stop 63. The arm 56 is also connected by a link 64. bell crank 65 and link 66. with a finger lever 61 which is fulcrumed at 68 on the press lever l5 and carries a finger piece 69 which maybe depressed to release the latch 48 and hold it released so long as the finger piece 69' is held depressed and the press is in approximately its closed position.

To cushion the opening movement of the press lever and the toggle linkage, an hydraulic buffer generally indicated by the numeral 1| applied to its housing. isbolted to. the rear face of the link 24 near the upper end thereof. The movable bufling element is the head 12 on a plunger mounted in the housing" and constructed as hereinafter described.

A boss 13 is formed on the rear face of the upper link 23 in position to engage the head 12 and force it inward relatively to the housing 1| in the last portion of the opening movement of the press (see Figure 2).

Referring now to Figure 3, the housing 1| is formed internally with a cylindrical guide 14 beneath which is a chamber 15 and to one side of which is a reservoir chamber 16. A leak port 11 leads from the side of the cylindrical guide '14- to the chamber 16 and the capacity of this port is adjustable by turning the valve stem 18 -so that the conical end of the valve stem enters more or less into the port 11 and consequently throttles it to any desirable degree.

The lower end of chamber 15 is closed by screw plug 19 which is sealed by a gasket as shown, and which serves as a seat for a coil compression spring 8|. The upper end of the housing 1| forms a cylindrical guide 82 which is co-axial with the cylindrical guide 14, and which serves to guide enlargements 12 and 84 on the stem 83. A stop screw 85 is provided to limit outward motion of the stem 83 under the urge of the spring 8| which reacts against the spring seat 86 formed at the lower end of the stem 83. This spring seat 86 also lim ts the downward motion of an annular or centrally ported piston 81 which has lost motion between itself and a valve head to seal against the upper face of piston 81 after which they move downward together. The efiect is to inhibit flow through the central port in the piston and thus develop pressure in space 15 beneath the piston. This pressure is relieved by throttling flow through port 11. Piston 81, however, is, so dimensioned that very shortly after it starts to move downward, it commences to throttle port 11 in addition to the valve 18 with the result that a sharply increased resistance is offered to downward motion of the stem 83.

Thus, when boss 13 starts to force head 12 downward the first effect is to close valve head 88 against valve 81, after which the parts move together, first against the throttling resistance offered by port 11, and then against the rising resistance imposed by progressive reduction of area of the port 11 because the port is overtravel-ed by the piston 81. This gives a desirable characteristic to the check because the initial resistance is offered by the spring, then after short motion, a definite hydraulic resistance is imposed, and on further motion, the hydraulic resistance builds up very rapidly until it is almost a positive arrest occasioned by the substantial closure of the port 11.

A device of this type can be made to operate very eifectively and silently, and since it checks rather rapid relative motion of the links 23 and 24, and these links react between the base II and the head lever 5, the buffing force is applied where it is most effective to arrest motion without serious jar or vibration. It will be observed that no rebound tendency can be imparted by the check because initial downward motion of the plunger 12 dissipates pressure beneath the plunger so that the only reaction that could be offered is the relatively low force exerted by the spring 8|.

While the press has been described in considerable detail, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to presses of specifically different forms and no necessary limitation in this regard is implied.

What I claim is:

1. In a garment press, the combination of a support; a press lever fulcrumed on a fixed portion of said support; cooperating pressing members carried by said support and lever; a toggle for bringing said pressing members into and out of pressing relation, said toggle comprising a pair of links hinged together and interposed between said support and lever; means for straightening the toggle; yielding means reacting upon said toggle to open the press; a buffer of the hydraulic type including a yielding plunger mounted on one of said links; and means on the other of said links arranged to displace said plunger only near the limit of opening movement of the toggle.

2. In a garment press, the combination of a support; a press lever fulcrurned on a fixed por- 14 tion of said support; cooperating pressing members carried by said support and lever; a toggle for bringing said pressing members into and out of pressing relation, said toggle comprising a pair of links hinged together and interposed between said support and lever; means for straightening the toggle; yielding means reacting upon said toggle to open the press; a liquid charged cylinder structure mounted on one of said links; piston means guided in said cylinder and operable to displace liquid therefrom upon inward motion of the piston, said piston including a plunger projecting from said cylinder structure; a spring urging said piston and plunger outward; valve means associated with said piston and adapted to delay inward motion of the piston by retarding liquid displacement but permitting rapid return flow; and means on the other of said links positioned to displace said plunger inward only near the limit of opening movement of the toggle whereby arrest of the opening movement of the press is cushioned.

WILLIAM STROBRIDGE. 

